Matthew 6:1 Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.
2 Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
3 But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:
4 That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.

Introductory Thoughts

It is always right to do right, but it is more perfectly right to do right for the right reasons. Three times in Matthew chapter 6, the Bible emphasizes the fact that the people of God should do right in order to please the “Father which seeth in secret” (Matthew 6:4, 6, 18). The proper motive in one’s service yields great rewards from the Lord. At times, these rewards will show up in this life. At other times, one might have to wait for eternity to receive these rewards. Regardless, these rewards will always far surpass the rewards for those things done in this life out of unscriptural motives. This includes future rewards in both substance and duration. Serve the Lord, but do so out of a pure motive.

Devotional Thoughts

• (For children): Jesus knew how much money the poor widow gave. He knew her heart and she will be rewarded (Mark 12:41-44). God knows secret things and will reward accordingly (Jeremiah 23:24; John 12:26b; Ephesians 6:8). He does not forget (Hebrews 6:10).
• (For everyone): One of the rewards the Lord gives for service is a crown. If we do like the elders in Revelation 4:10, we will one day cast our rewards at the feet of Jesus. How should this cause the saint of God to insure he is serving with the right motive?
• Who do you desire to please? How is this an important question when trying to discern your motive?

Prayer Thoughts

• Thank God for the opportunity to please Him.
• Ask God to perfect your motives.

SONG: OUR BEST

Quotes from the next volume
(VOLUME 1, WEEK 25)
Subject: Truthfulness

Truth tainted by error or falsehood ceases to be truth. Regardless of how simple a lie may appear, no lie has as its source pure truth.
A lie to the least extent within the words of God or in God’s very nature would incriminate God’s expressed deity. Lying is contrary to the nature of God.
As the enemy of God, Satan wants to deceive God’s creation into believing a lie so that rejecting the truth and remaining condemned in darkness (2 Corinthians 4:4) seems like the natural thing to do.